Despite the ongoing tension and unrest that persists in the Congo, a senior Canadian military official says the United Nations operation is among the most successful missions undertaken by the international organization.

"We've made a difference, because...the war from '99 to 2003 was in a sense, a world war -- four million people died," Col. Larry Aitken told CTV's Canada AM.

"There was a transition that followed that. A lot of arms strife. When the UN came in, it essentially brought in the security necessary for the elections to occur and so the greatest achievement, no doubt, is the elections which occurred in December."

The Democratic Republic of Congo is currently in transition after its first free elections in 40 years.

Aitken is deputy chief of staff for operations and planning for the UN military contingent. He is also a signals officer and former commander of CFB Kingston.

Aitken is one of nine Canadians working in the country on the mission assigned to one of nine Canadians assigned to MUNOC -- the French acronym for the mission. Five others Canadians fill staff jobs in the capital Kinshasa. Three others are working farther inland at Kisangi.

While Aitken says the United Nations has made significant progress in the country, he acknowledges there has been significant strife in the country since he arrived ten months ago.

"I arrived at an interesting time,'' he said in a recent phone interview with The Canadian Press. "In August, we had a civil war in the city. In November, we had another one which burned the supreme court building, and in March we had another civil war in the city, a confrontation between government forces and the security forces of a former vice-president.

"It's been gruesome. There's been lots of bullets flying, lots of damage, lots of death.''

Other problems have included the problems of overcoming the restrictions of time and distance.

The Democratic Republic of Congo at 2.4 million square kilometres is the third biggest country in Africa and the UN has 18,000 soldiers to cover the vast area. Aitken said this is a small number to cover such a large area.

To complicate matters, the road network of the country has collapsed and cellphone connections are rather weak.

The UN contingent comes from 51 different countries with heavy representation from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Consequently the issue of language and communication is also an obstacle that has to be negotiated in the mission.

English and French are supposed to be the preferred languages on the mission but Aitken said that some people don't speak either with a lot of clarity.

While problems are being encountered, Aitken said the UN mission focuses on the task at hand.

Patrols ensure security and escort humanitarian agencies and deliver food and assistance and also carried out to collect information.

"We also do patrols to find out what's going on because there's no reliable source of information. We have to determine ourselves what's happening on the ground. So many of our patrols...are there just to find out what's going on for us," Aitken told Canada AM.

He is due to return home from the mission in the Congo in July.

With files from The Canadian Press